TT Hongli HG 1/144 Union Flag Review

Unlike my previous or any reviews done before by me, I will review a bit on one of some bootleg Gunpla I have bought recently. Why did I buy it some may ask? The reason why I bought it was to see how good the quality was and the possibility whether I can use it as a testbed for further modeling techniues in the future.

It is rather cheap, but not dirt cheap, if you can get the exact price just like as if bought from a China store directly, it can go well below RM10, which to me is highly reasonable. However, that is unlikely, but I was fortunate enough to be able to buy it for RM19. Not too bad but not so great of a price either, but then again, I bought it.

The Union Flag is a mass produced transformable mobile suit used by the Union. Basically, it is an early grunt unit in Gundam 00 Season 1.

Model No.: SVMS-01
Height: 17.9m
Weight: 67.1t
Armaments: Linear Rifle, Defense Rod, Sonic Blade(Plasma Sword), 20mm Machine Gun, Leg Missile

Read on for the full review!

Part 1: Box
The box is not that much different from the original version as far as I can tell. Though, the bootleg boxes are not wrapped in tight plastic but only sellotape is used to "seal" the box. Pretty cheap way to "seal" the box, then again, it is a bootleg.

The nice part about TT Hongli though is that they give a broken English translation on the boxes, as well as for the manual in most places. However, it is a very painful thing to read as the English looks like the one you will get through an online translator.

Part 2: Runners
I actually built this model while still in Miri and luckily had the time to snap some pictures of the runners and sticker.

The first thing I noticed when I touched the runners was that the plastic felt quite rough and cheap. Then again, that's what you get for getting bootlegs though. The sticker is simply horrible as I later found out that it was quite difficult to even take it off the sticker sheet. TT Hongli totally suffer in the sticker depart, whether it is difficult to take of to not being able to stick. Luckily, this one stuck onto the model.

Part 3: Manual

This time I'm being a bit nice by giving this 100dpi scan of the manual. =)
Not that great of a quality though, but it gives you a preview on the manual of a bootleg product. Chinese AND English Engrish translations!

Part 4: Building Process
Sorry, didn't manage to take pictures for this part this time. =/

Part 5: Review
FYI, on the left arm is the Defense Rod while in the right hand is the Linear Rifle.

The model looks quite nice even though it is a bootleg. Though, some parts of the body aren't so accurate and might not work as well as the original. Read on as to why I say so.

Wing gimmick.

Bending capability. Not much, both legs and arms are limited to 90 degrees. The knee joint is very stiff though and a bit hard to move. The waist armor plate can easily fall and gets in the way of the legs.

Lower wings gimmick.

A bit of action on the Linear Rifle and Sonic Blade. The hands cannot really hold the weapons well and while inserting them can make the hand pieces open up. Quite annoying. I also felt that the hand parts aren't so accurately molded because of this.

Part 6: Henshin! Transformation to Flight Mode

The weapons have to be taken off, even the Defense Rod.

Bend the upper body to the back.

Then, bend the legs back. Make sure the waist stays in front.

Note the black "dot" on the elbow and the white circle on the knees. They "can" connect with each other to lock the arms to the legs while in Flight Mode. However, that doesn't seem to work for this bootleg. The arms cannot lock itself to the legs.

Lastly, the rear armor section of the feet is pulled "up" as seen above. This feature can be used while in MS mode to enable it to balance better. Works with me!

Even worse, the Linear Rifle cannot be insert into the slot at the waist. It can only be inserted if the armor plate is taken off. Bad molding there.

Part 7: Extra

A little fight scene with the TT Hongli HG Exia.

Part 8: Conclusion
Okay, first off, I'll list the cons of this bootleg.

• The mold is slightly blurry and the plastic feels cheap.
  
• Some parts seem a bit bigger than they seemingly should be, like the waist armor plate. I feel this applies to the head as well as it CANNOT turn.
• Some parts can easily come off such as the waist armor plate.
• Not so cheap especially when you can get the original for about RM32 last time.
  

Next up, the pros.

• Unlike the most common knowledge that bootleg parts don't fit in well, this one seems to most parts nearly perfectly. No extra cutting seem to be needed to make the parts fit better. ^^

Overall, it is an okay bootleg. Some of its shortcomings may have originated from the original version itself(which I think is the waist armor plate coming off easily). But unfortunately, I won't be recommending this bootleg as it is not really that worth it. I think i should have grabbed the Overflag instead at that moment of time. Slight regret. =/

Well, that's it for this model. =)